Home
by Bloody Kaycee
Summary: His gut feeling told him to come home early today.


**HOME**

Hatake Kakashi is a man who always trusted his gut feeling. Whether it be S-class missions, training his then-gennin students, or simply adding a dash of spice to a dish, his gut feeling has never failed him before. And as he looked at the clock that hung on his office's wall, he wondered if he can end his day earlier than usual. The clock read 5 p.m., way too early for the Hokage of Konoha to return home.

As if catching up with his thoughts, his assistant sighed lazily "If you want to go home now, you know you can. All the urgent documents had been signed already and we are not expecting any guests for tonight, Hokage-sama".

The man in question growled in annoyance. Even if it has already been four years since he has taken the title of Sixth Hokage, he will never get used to being called as such especially from those who are close to him.

"Don't call me that, Shikamaru. You know I hate it" he mumbled as he raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck. Shikamaru just laughed at him "I know, I know Kakashi-sensei. Just do what you have to do for tonight and I'll see you tomorrow".

With a simple wave and thanks to his assistant, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind his Hokage robes.

He re-appeared behind a tree near the marketplace, not wanting to startle the people there. The place was just starting to come alive with both civilians and shinobi buying ingredients for their dinner. It has been a long while since he last cooked, he thought as he walked through the marketplace, waving and exchanging greetings at the people who acknowledged his presence.

Coming up with a decision on what to cook for dinner, he scrolled through each vendor's stand until he got all the ingredients he needed. Once satisfied, he waved to the last vendor he bought from and disappeared in a flurry of leaves. As the Hokage, he was quite popular and he didn't want to draw more attention to himself than he already had. Besides, he has other plans for tonight.

Re-appearing just outside the front door to his house, he searched for his keys and unlocked the door. He didn't need to look around if his wife was already home as he didn't feel her chakra signature when he entered.

Making his way to the kitchen to deposit the ingredients he bought, he promptly stopped to look at the framed photos lined up in the TV stand. He smiled under his mask as memories flooded his thoughts. The first photo was the one taken with Team Minato when they were just gennin, the second one was the group photo of Team 7 when it was formed. He flashed another smile then stared at the other two photos lined up. The third one was taken during his inauguration as the Sixth Hokage with his then-girlfriend Sakura standing proudly at his side and their hands laced together with the Hokage Mountain as the backdrop. The fourth photo was taken roughly a year and a half ago during their wedding, Sakura's loving smile painted on her face and Kakashi's smile evident even through his white mask.

His smile widened as he thought about how different his life now was compared to what he had envisioned it a few years ago. Who ever thought that Hatake Kakashi, a known pervert and a lazy ass who gives lame excuses for his tardiness, will end up as the Sixth Hokage of the village he grew up in and with a loving and accomplished wife at his side?

Sure, it wasn't an easy road to travel to. Tsunade has left quite a lot on his plate when she stepped down from her post. The village had a lot of re-building to do and the Five Great Nations had done their best to keep the peace after the war. Looking back, he wasn't really sure how he managed to lead the village to what it is now but what he was sure of is that he couldn't have done it without the support of his wife, his friends, and all Leaf shinobi.

Maneuvering quickly to the kitchen, he set out to cook dinner for him and Sakura. He thought that it would be nice to do the cooking tonight for a change. Being the Hokage, he can't really afford the time to do domestic tasks like cooking and cleaning so Sakura took it upon herself to do it. Though as the Head Medic of Konoha Hospital, she was also always busy but always found a way to maneuver around her schedule.

Thinking back, he really can't believe he snagged a woman like Sakura to be his wife. Not that he was grateful for the events of the Fourth Great Ninja War, but it highlighted just how much he cared for his former student. She had claimed her place beside him during the war and hasn't left that place even after the war had ended. It took a while for him to come to terms with his feelings, because he knew that if he opened his heart to her there was no going back. Sakura, meanwhile, gave him the space that he needed but was always there when he needed her.

The first person to know about their relationship was Tsunade, seeing as Sakura considered her as her second mother and both shinobi held her in high respect. Tsunade merely laughed when they came to her that day, and asked why it took so long for the both of them to realize it. She mentioned that she knew the look one has when in love and she had been in fact waiting for this day. And so with that, the busty blonde gave her blessings and soon the whole village knew of their relationship. And after six months of dating, Kakashi took her on top of the Hokage Mountain and popped the question and then the rest was history.

Humming softly, he prepared tonight's dinner of broiled saury and eggplant-mixed miso soup. It was one of his favorite dishes, and soon became Sakura's too when they started going out. Being a bachelor for quite a long time gave him the culinary skills needed to feed himself.

He looked up at the clock once the fish was cooked. It read 6:30 p.m., Sakura should be home in a few minutes. While waiting for the miso soup to boil, Kakashi set out to prepare the tub with hot water. His wife will surely appreciate a long hot soak after a tiring day at the hospital.

He was already out of the bathroom when he heard the soft click of door followed the sound of it closing. He walked towards the living room and with a happy smile said "Welcome home, Sakura".

He trailed his eyes towards her and it took only a second for him to decipher the sad look in her eyes. In a flash, she was enveloped in his arms in a warm and loving embrace.

"Oh, Kakashi…" Sakura mumbled as she buried her face in his chest and tightened her arms around his waist. Her tears ran freely as Kakashi patted and kissed the top of her head.

"What happened?" he asked as he kept her in his arms. It only took one look for him to know that his wife has had a rough day. And from the way she was crying, a rough day might be an understatement.

"We lost half a dozen patients today, the two of them were those chuunin I was looking after" she said as she looked up at him. Kakashi proceeded to wipe her tears away and looked straight into her eyes, studying her expression.

"You did your best, and those chuunin were probably aware that they were under the care of the best medic of Konoha. But even you cannot stop death, you know that right?" he said a few moments later

She nodded as her tears started to subside, her husband's soothing words and presence already making her feel better "But still, it doesn't make it feel any better"

Kakashi smiled at her, happy that this little episode was coming to a close. Now that they were living in a time of peace, missions were generally safer than it was before but still it didn't mean that something bad weren't going to happen. Those chuunin had been deployed on a bodyguard mission two weeks ago. Everything went smoothly during the mission, however they were attacked while on their way back to Konoha by a team of rogue shinobi who were against the treaty the Five Great Nations signed. Two of four-man team managed to survive with quite a few injuries, but the other two were immediately brought to the hospital upon returning. They were poisoned and since their arrival at the hospital, Sakura has taken them in as her patients. It was quite a struggle as the poison was new and they were racing against time. Unfortunately, as Sakura delivered just now, those two chuunin didn't make it.

Kakashi kept her at his arms, whispering comforting words to her until he was sure that she was okay. His wife might be famous throughout the Five Great Nations for her shinobi skills, but it was times like this that he was thankful to be there at her side when she needed him most.

Upon smelling the freshly cooked miso soup, Sakura looked up at her husband "Did you cook?"

With an eye crease, he loosened his hold on her and lead her to the kitchen "Yes, even though I'm the Hokage, I'm still a shinobi. And as a shinobi, one must always hone his skills, even if those skills are in the kitchen."

Sakura laughed happily as she and Kakashi began to set the table and eat dinner afterwards. And as Kakashi stared at his wife as she merrily told him how the rest of her day went, he was happy that his gut feeling once again didn't fail him.

* * *

A/N: Slowly getting back to writing. I just wanted to write something easy for now, but I am considering writing multi-chapter stories soon. Please review and here's to hoping you'll read more from me soon!


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